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June 02, 2010

Comments

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JTk

Wordpressista's just find that WordPress is "just right" for them :) WordPress sites can be as simple or as complex as you want to make them.

It's okay that you like Typepad, some people even like Drupal amd Joomla!

Paul Chaney

Different strokes for different folks, right?

Paul Woodhouse

Joomla - to run a blog, really? Just the mere mention sends shivers down the old spine.

I haven't looked at Typepad for a long time, but the features it has now make it a far more attractive proposition. I think another test run may be in order!

Granted, I'll hardly ever be swayed from a self-hosted WordPress install, and if you've already got a site hosted on an Apache server with cPanel and Fantastico / Installatron, it's a one-click process that isn't going to cost anymore than you already pay for hosting.

Then again, how many small business (or large business) folks do you know who know their server setup?

You're right about WordPress and its nuances - or infinite customizations. While I love that element, the ability to post (cracking) content and not worry about the backend is a strong consideration for nearly everyone.

I'd love to see a shoot-out between the main blogging platforms (even pretenders) by relatively sane small business people and see what conclusions they draw.

JTk

No doubt!

kimmi8

Thanks for the awesome post. Great to see that TypePad is working out for you.

Paul Chaney

Paul, thank you for weighing in with your usual on-target comments. I appreciate it.

As to the shoot-out idea, I can tell you that any number of small business people I've talked to tell me Wordpress is too much. They get lost in the interface. And asking a small business owner to do a Wordpress install, Fantastico notwithstanding, ain't gonna happen.

That's not to suggest there aren't plenty of small business people who get off on doing exactly that, but there are many more who don't have the stomach for it. For them, Typepad is a great solution.

The absolute worse case scenario is for a small business owner to use Blogger (Blogspot) simply because they don't know any better.

Again, thanks for commenting. I appreciate it.

Paul Chaney

It has for many years Kimmie. Thanks for noticing. :-)

Claire Celsi

I'm with ya, Paul. I have respect for Wordpress but I am in the category of "too busy to care" about those other features. Great post.

Paul Chaney

Thanks Claire. Again, Typepad is the "just right" platform for many of us.

California Traffic School

I went through some excellent points that have been listed out in this post and i feel Typepad is working well compared to other alternatives. So many like Joomla (CMS), Wordpress, Blogger and the list goes on and on..! Thanks for stopping by with great info.

Paul Chaney

That last sentence in your comment should be mine. Thank you for stopping by with a great comment.

Denise Wakeman

Paul, thanks for sharing your perspective on TypePad. I've been a TypePadista since 2004 and love the platform. I get flack all the time from people who tell me it's an inferior product or that wordpress is better. I say, they are different and wordpress is not always the best solution for businesses for precisely the reasons you outline. I have a couple of sites on wp and find they are more complex to figure out and manage and that I have to have a blog designer to get them set up properly and I'm pretty savvy about this stuff.

As you say "different strokes". And when people ask me which platform they should use I say "it depends" and work with them to figure out the best solution for their needs.

Thanks for calling it like you see it...blog on!

Marsha Ford

I had to smile when reading your post; and I'm still smiling. I started in TypePad in 2008 (yup, latecomer). For the past three weeks, I've been researching different options for my business and my blogging. I went so far as trying to teach myself Joomla and Drupal. Then I went with DotNetNuke.

While the DotNetNuke setup was simple enough, the back-end work and maintenance was too time consuming. I looked at WordPress briefly, but it just didn't seem like what I was looking for. End result, I've come back to TypePad.

TypePad doesn't (yet) meet all of my needs, but given how easy it is to set up and its flexibility, TypePad has shown itself to be the best choice for me.

WenLin Soh

Did you know? Typepad is (currently) accessible in China, Wordpress and all the Google-hosted blog platforms are (currently) blocked.

Just another 1.3 billion reasons you might find Typepad a wee bit more persuasive if you're a small business :-)

Wen
http://www.goingwithmygut.com

Paul Chaney

Thanks for your comments Denise. I'm very glad you weighed-in because I was thinking of you the entire time I was writing the post. Like me, you find Typepad to be quite useful in most circumstances.

What can I say, great minds!

Paul Chaney

I'm glad to hear that Marsha. Going from DotNetNuke to Typepad is quite a swing! :-)

Paul Chaney

WenLin, I'm very glad to hear that and I'm sure the folks at Typepad are as well. I have a heart for China in terms of its use of blogging for business. I hope the day comes when I can make my way there to meet with fellow bloggers. Thanks for enlightening us about this.

Marsha Ford

LOL! Yes, it is. It's also quite a relief! Now I can focus on learning CSS so I can tweak my TypePad pages.

coach suitcase

People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said... but they will always remember how you made them feel.Did you agree with me ?

Rodney Of Small Business Internet Marketing Blog

I too am one of those guys who think "if it ain't broke why fix it" i have been using Wordpress platform for my blog for quite a while and have had no issues. But after reading this post and doing some more research on Typepad, what the heck. i will install my new blog on it and take it for a test drive.

Paul Chaney

Let me know how it goes Rodney. I'd like to see what your thoughts are once having set it up.

Professional SEO Company

It's good to hear that Typepad works just right for you, but for me, I prepare using Wordpress, I can easily optimized it with some of the new plug-ins.

Matt of Small Business Marketing Solutions

I use wordpress all the time but I've not really checked out Typepad... in your experience Paul, how has it done with SEO?

Paul Chaney

Typepad does well with SEO in my experience.

acne treatments that work

Sorry one of those "Wordpressistas" because I can on a pretty consistent basis get my blogs targeting specific keywords on the 1st page of Google.

Many in the IM community believe that you get a little extra boost in the Google search engine for using Wordpress.

Not knocking Typepad though, I know many people who love it; I might decide to give it a try to see why people like it so much.

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